Agro-morphological and Nutritional Traits of Potato Genotypes In Oksibil and Anggi Highland Areas of Papua

Abstract

Potatoes are very potential food crop in terms of economic value and food security, and therefore need to be considered in its development. Potato production in Oksibil, Papua, and in Anggi, West Papua has decreased from time to time. A number of potato genotypes that were introduced by the missionaries in the 1959-1960s in the land of Papua are reported to be difficult to find nowadays. The objective of this research was to identify the agro-morphological characteristics and to analyze the nutritional traits of its tuber. The research was conducted in Oksibil, Bintang Mountain Regency of Papua Province and in Anggi, Arfak Mountain Regency of West Papua Province from November 2019 to February 2020. The research was designed using a descriptive method, and the samples were collected based on a random sampling technique. The agro-morphological observations refer to the descriptors from the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR). It showed that there were 2 potato genotypes found in Oksibil (KM-O and KP-O) and 5 potato genotypes found in Anggi (KM-A, KH-A, KP-A, KB-A, and KT-A) with quite diverse traits, particularly in tuber component. Based on the morphological character, it shows the formation of two main clusters with a dissimilarity index of Squared Euclidean Distance ranging from 6.112 to 46,643. Cluster one consisted of genotypes KM-O, KP-O, KM-A, and KH-A, and cluster two consisted of KP-A, KBH-A, and KT-A genotypes. Based on the tuber analysis, the highest moisture content was found in KP-A, and conversely, this genotype produced the lowest dry matter content. The lowest water content of potato tubers with the highest dry matter content was found in KH-A. The highest starch content was in KP-O and KBH-A, the highest reducing sugar content was in KM-A, and the potato genotype with the lowest reducing sugar content was KP-A.